Ipsos MORI Understanding Society Evolving public services, evolving public opinion Social Research Institute Understanding Society Evolving public services, evolving public opinion July 2012

1 In brief Contents

Do you need to understand the views and 01. Foreword 14. The primacy of privacy experiences of young people and teachers Bobby Duffy Harvey Lewis & Anna Beckett in Scotland? Ipsos MORI’s Teachers’ and First thoughts on this edition and One of Deloitte’s research directors Young People’s Omnibus surveys are the only the evolving story of public service joins with us to discuss what citizens omnibus studies of their type in Scotland. reform feel about the collection, use and sharing of their data.

02. Public service reform 2010-2012 18. Driving performance: Lauren Cummings & interview with Tim Kelsey, Gideon Skinner National Director for Patients & Information, NHS We explore the current trends in Commissioning Board thinking about public service reform, Ipsos MORI interview Contact: [email protected] and the public’s perception of the key themes. Tim Kelsey sets out how technology To stay up-to-date with Ipsos MORI’s latest can transform aspects of patients’ thinking on key public policy issues, visit our interactions with the UK’s health blogs: The Politics Wire and The Big Society 08. Delivering public services services. POLITICS WIRE BIGsociety in a new world: interview with former Secretary of the Find out how parliamentarians at Westminster Cabinet and Head of the 22. Towards new modes of giving and in the devolved assemblies see your Home Civil Service, Lord (Gus) Sally Panayiotou organisation with our cost-effective Key O’Donnell GCB Influencer Tracking programme. Ipsos MORI interview We discuss how technology can transform charitable giving. Lord O’Donnell considers how the Key Influencer Tracking public sector changed during his time working for three consecutive prime Contact: ministers, and the challenges ahead. [email protected]

Do you need to understand the changing priorities in the public sector? Why not use our regular survey of public sector leaders, tapping into the opinion of those responsible for managing change.

Contact: [email protected] 26. Reducing the regulatory burden Editorial team Graham Bukowski Bobby Duffy 12. The Future of Government We review the role of regulators and Gideon Skinner Communication how to achieve the right balance Anna Beckett Jenny Grey between protecting the public and Tom Mludzinski Executive Director for Government how to act proportionate to risk. Chloe Forbes Communication at No 10 and the Design Cabinet Office discusses how Rita Sexton government communicators seek 28. Public services: a Scottish to employ new techniques across e: [email protected] agenda? departmental boundaries to achieve www.ipsos-mori.com Mark Diffley their aims. www.twitter.com/IpsosMORI We consider the impact on public services if Scotland decides on independence and goes its own way. Foreword

Welcome to the summer edition of the of Clapham in the London Borough • how technology can transform Ipsos MORI Social Research Institute’s of Wandsworth, he considers how the charitable giving; Understanding Society. In this issue public sector and civil service changed we consider public service reform in during his time working for three different • the role of regulators; and the UK, and the future challenges they prime ministers, and the challenges face in meeting public expectations ahead. • the impact on public services if and changing needs at a time of severe Scotland decides on independence. spending constraints. Also in this edition, we are very pleased to have an interview with Tim Kelsey, who An understanding of public attitudes The government has made much of after a year as Director of Transparency to public services in Britain should be its desire to make public services and and Open Data at the Cabinet Office, an essential component of the reform central government more efficient, is to become National Director for process, and we hope you enjoy reading claiming to have delivered “cashable Patients and Information at the new our latest thoughts on this. At the efficiencies” of £3.75 billion just in the NHS Commissioning Board. Tim sets Ipsos MORI Social Research Institute, first ten months in office. But aspirations out his vision for how technology can we remain committed to sharing the go further than that, with ambitions to help transform aspects of patients’ messages from our research in the transform the way services operate and interactions with health services and free belief that a better understanding of to open government up to new ideas, up resources. This is closely connected public opinion will lead to better social new ways of delivering services, and with attitudes to privacy and data- outcomes and service design. to new technology. As Francis Maude, sharing, and we also discuss research Minister for the Cabinet Office said, “we carried out with Deloitte on what citizens, As always if you would like to discuss any need to be on the cutting edge ensuring as customers of business and users of of the issues raised here, please get in our services are fit for the 21st century – public services, feel about the collection, touch. agile, flexible and digital by default”. use, and sharing of data.

Much of the government’s narrative We are also extremely grateful to Jenny centres on putting the citizen at the centre Grey, Executive Director of Government of the system. To make this a reality and Communication for Number 10 and the design services that will meet users’ Cabinet Office, for her view on the future requirements, the relationship between of her profession. Jenny discusses the public services, the state and the citizen role of government communicators in and how to engage service users needs the current austere times, and how they Bobby Duffy to be just as much part of the debate as can employ new techniques and cross Managing Director, budget cuts. departmental boundaries to achieve their Ipsos MORI Social Research Institute aims. To help contextualise the current challenges, we are delighted to have This edition also includes our analysis of: an interview with former Secretary of the Cabinet and Head of the Home Civil • the latest on perceptions of public Service, Gus O’Donnell. Now raised services, and the social values these are to the peerage as Baron O’Donnell, based on;

1 Ipsos MORI Understanding Society Evolving public services, evolving public opinion

Public service reform 2010-2012: a tale of support and scepticism

Gideon Skinner Lauren Cummings

2 Ipsos MORI Understanding Society Evolving public services, evolving public opinion

Against the backdrop of the eurozone likely to confront us within the next couple reform in mid-June.7 The report calls for crisis and a UK economy in double- of decades. some radical changes: a smaller, more dip recession, the March 2012 update strategic civil service; improved policy- on progress against the priorities set making capability, including piloting the out in the Open Public Services White Think tanks are increasingly commissioning of policy development by Paper made the case that radical public looking for inspiration from academics and think tanks; sharpened service reform was even more critical abroad accountability; improved performance given the deteriorating economic In the context of intense fiscal pressures, management systems and an improved conditions in the UK and Europe and think tanks have begun to look to the employment offer (see our interview with the intense demand from the public for developing world for alternative ideas. Gus O’Donnell for his take on some of high-quality public services.1 The 2020 Public Services Trust makes the this). case for “widening the lens” to capture as The case for radical reform has many ideas for public service innovation The Institute for Government, which therefore become even stronger as possible, and in particular from made recommendations for civil service over the last six months. developing countries, which often have reform in March 2012 and followed this Oliver Letwin MP and to contend with high levels of demand up with the publication of seven tests Danny Alexander MP from citizens in the context of severe of an effective reform plan, has reacted If the update on the White Paper is a fiscal constraint.5 The Serco Institute fairly positively to the plan. According picture of continuity, reflecting the same examined the case of India in particular, to its verdict, the plan establishes a principles set out eight months before, where social entrepreneurs clear direction for reform the debate about public service reform have stepped in where the Think tanks have that applies to most civil in the think tank sphere combines more state was absent, finding servants and addresses been warning that familiar lines of argument with fresh “frugal” but innovative the main strategic issues. ideas from around the world. ways of delivering high government needs The dual civil service quality public services, to take a longer leadership is working well Think tanks have been warning that the often to very deprived term view of public and senior civil service government needs to take a longer term populations who cannot service reform for leaders appear committed view of public service reform for several afford to pay. In line with several years now. to implementing the years now. The 2020 Public Services the government’s principle plan. The think tank’s Trust made this case in June 2009 when of decentralisation, Frugal report does raise some it published its report exploring citizen Innovation argues that allowing ‘bottom- concerns, however, including whether demand in 2020. More recently the up’ solutions to local public service or not there is the right political support IPPR has taken up the baton, publishing problems to flourish may result in services for the plan, and the lack of clarity about The Long View in June of this year.2 that better meet citizens’ needs.6 how reviews and reform actions will be Both reports highlight the impact of resourced. demographic and social trends on the future of public services, and argue Civil service reform plan that governments of the future will face reveals some major Implementation of public increasing cost pressures, in many changes service reform will rely on cases “irrespective of the current public Meanwhile, the government has also public sector leaders finances”.3 They make the case for been moving forward on another front. Of course, it is not unreasonable for the government leading “a public debate Amid at times heated debates about government to stick to its original plans for now on the kind of choices that will the role of management consultants, public service reform. In summer 2011, confront us”4 and warn against short- academics and think tanks in the policy- public sector leaders identified changes term imperatives preventing preparations making process, the Cabinet Office in government policy as one of the top for those future scenarios that are very published its report on civil service three strategic risks to the public sector

3 Ipsos MORI Understanding Society Evolving public services, evolving public opinion

over the period 2011-2016.8 Reform takes Public sector leaders think redesigning services around users will lead time, so standing by the principles and to most significant improvements focussing on their implementation is How significant have/will each of these possible approaches been/be to improving the way your organisation delivers services over the past two years/in the next five years? probably wise. Redesigning services to meet users’ needs in a different way 7.35 8.03 If the priority now is implementation, then 7.18 Reengineering processes to make them more efficient 7.92 the beliefs and attitudes of public sector Organisational or workforce restructuring 7.11 leaders to the reform process become 7.15 6.48 of paramount importance. Public sector Re-tendering or renegotiating contracts 6.84 5.99 leaders, unsurprisingly, identified budget Investing in new technology or infrastructure 6.71 cuts (67%) as the most pressing strategic Changing the type of provider by outsourcing, in-sourcing or 5.80 sharing services 6.69 risks in the summer of 2010, and this was Reducing demand for services by investing in prevention or 5.67 6.66 still the case (64%) in the summer of changing behaviour 5.54 9 Using procurement or charging mechanisms such as payment 6.37 2011. Related to this, they are concerned by results 4.66 about the implications of budget cuts Stopping or reducing services, including disposing of assets 5.98 Last two years for the delivery of core services and 4.11 Raising eligibility thresholds to target those most in need 5.24 Next five years the maintenance or improvement of Base: 202 Senior public sector managers in the local government and Source: Ipsos MORI Public Sector service quality. Like some think tanks, health sectors, 27 June – 22 July 2011 Leaders survey public sector leaders also worry that short term financial challenges may sectors, the strategy that most sector views on the proposals and, crucially, the lead to cost increases over the longer leaders rate at least a 7/10 in terms of way reforms are implemented. term, for example if strategic investment improving the way their organisation in infrastructure does not occur or the delivered services over the last two years, The reform programme itself has public sector sheds staff with critical and looking forward to the next five years, been greeted with both support and niche skills. is ‘redesigning services to meet users’ scepticism by British citizens. The Open needs in a different way’, with redesigning Public Services White Paper (July 2011) “I think we’re all a bit short term processes to increase efficiency and set out five principles for reform: choice, at the moment and it’s that longer organisational or workforce restructuring decentralisation, diversity of provision, term strategic perspective that’s also recognised as significant. Stopping accountability and fair access.13 Citizens often missing I think.” or reducing services and raising eligibility are broadly in favour of most of these – Local Authority Chief Exec thresholds to target those most in need principles in theory, but with some are rated as least significant – although important caveats in terms of how they In spite of this, our research suggests there are some signs they could grow.12 are implemented in practice. public sector leaders are already changing the way they approach service delivery. Local authorities are looking to The public is both shared services to help them make cuts, supportive and sceptical of with 84% believing that the long term public service reforms 87% rewards of such an approach justify the This narrative about putting the citizen at of the public agree that short term challenges.10 In education, the centre may be the longest-running patients should be involved many schools are choosing to convert to element of continuity in the debate in making decisions academies to reap the perceived benefits about public service reform, as again about the care that they of increased autonomy from local Gus O’Donnell points out with his recall receive from the NHS authorities, including targeting resources of John Major’s innovations in this area. where they are most needed and If the government and public sector adopting innovations to the curriculum.11 leaders are to ensure this happens, then On choice, for example, we have found In both the local government and health they need to understand the public’s that 87% of the public agree that patients

4 Ipsos MORI Understanding Society Evolving public services, evolving public opinion

“in the long term, this government’s policies will 63% 31% improve the state citizens of Britain’s public citizens agree services” disagree

should be involved in making decisions depending on the specific issue, citizens that accountability is not at the forefront about the care they receive from the want varying levels of engagement, from of most people’s minds until something NHS, and that 85% feel confident about simply wanting to know more, to wanting goes wrong, when it takes on critical choosing a GP surgery.14 However, there a say, to actually wanting to get involved.18 importance. is concern that more vulnerable groups, such as those who do not speak English Research for Accenture suggests that Finally, fairness in public service provision well or are unable to read and write, in terms of diversity, citizens do support is extremely important to most citizens. may in practice struggle to seize the the idea of a variety of providers being Fifty percent of Britons understand opportunities to choose.15 involved in public service provision, as fairness in terms of making sure that long as the government retains ultimate everyone has the same opportunities, There is also some appetite among responsibility for overseeing public regardless of their start in life,21 which citizens for a degree of involvement services.19 is broadly in line with the White Paper’s in local public services, with 48% stated aim that public service provision expressing a desire to get involved in With regards to accountability, our report should primarily focus on the same decision-making at the local level.16 One for the 2020 Public Services Trust found opportunities being available regardless reason for this may be the level of mistrust that while the public sees accountability of background. of “experts”, as two-thirds disagree with in public services as important, it is less the statement, “In general, the people in of a priority than fairness and customer charge know best”.17 In reality, however, service standards.20 This may reflect Public opinion is gradually shifting but citizens remain Confidence in the government’s policies for public services has fallen divided on many key issues There is, however increasing scepticism Do you agree or disagree… “In the long term, this government’s policies will improve the state of Britain’s about the necessity of some elements public services” of the reform programme, in particular, 2010 General Election; 2001 General Election Brown as PM Cameron as PM the cuts in public service expenditure. % net 2005 General Election (Jun 07) agree (Jun 01) (May 05) (May 10) Cameron elected In 2010, the public were behind cutting (Dec 05) 20 22 spending in order to pay off the national

10 debt, with 58% agreeing this was necessary, and more than half of these 0 0 -2 strongly so. From early 2011, however, 10- -10 -13 British citizens began to question the 20- -18 need to cut spending on public services.

30- -28 -29 As of June 2012, only 46% still thought -32 -34 this was necessary to reduce the debt, 40- while 44% disagreed, and so the public is now divided on this issue.

Base: c. 1,000 British adults 18+ each month Source: Ipsos MORI Political Monitor

5 Ipsos MORI Understanding Society Evolving public services, evolving public opinion

New generations driving society’s changing views towards welfare This division and often contradictory nature of public opinion on many of the Total % agree “the government should spend more money on welfare benefits for the poor, even if it leads to higher taxes”: core issues of public service reform reflects an as yet unresolved debate 60% about the kind of society British citizens

50% 54+ desire. Over the last twenty-five years or

33-53 61+ so there has been a clear shift away from

40% 65 + a more collectivist, welfare-orientated 40-60 society, towards one that encourages 19-32 44-64 30% 24 and below individuals to look after themselves. 30-43 Furthermore, new cohort analysis of 20% 25-38 British Social Attitudes Survey data

29 and below by Ipsos MORI shows a clear pattern, 10% whereby younger generations are less in favour of spending more money on 0% 1998 1999 2000 2001 2002 2003 2004 2005 2006 2007 2008 2009 welfare benefits for the poor if it leads Pre war (before 1945) Baby boomers (1945-65) Generation X (1966-1979) Generation Y (1980-2000) to higher taxes, than older generations,

Base: c.2,000-4,000 GB Adults for each wave of British Social Attitudes Survey Source: BSA suggesting that this shift may become entrenched. Furthermore, over the course of this services have tried to do too much and parliament, citizens have become people should take more responsibility for Although this change in the ideal more worried about the future of public their own lives. At the same time, however, society Britons want to see is clear, it services. Shortly after the election, the more are worried (68%) now than in has happened slowly, and has shown same proportion (45%) of people agreed 2010 (50%) that government and public no signs of accelerating in recent years as disagreed with the statement “in the services will do too little to help people – and even now, the public is split right long-term, this government’s policies in the years ahead, which may well be down the middle on the issue. will improve the state of Britain’s public driving some of the increased concern services”. By June 2012, disagreement about the future of public services and had risen to 63%, the same as for the impact of spending cuts. public sector leaders in summer 2011. Expectations for the quality of individual services are also low, with more people Perceptions of the ideal society are changing – but slowly believing policing in their area, education and the NHS will get worse in the next People have different views about the ideal society. For each of these statements, please tell me which few years than get better.22 Putting this in one comes closest to your ideal. the context of longer term trends reveals % 70 A society which emphasises the social and public opinion in this regard is at an collective provision of welfare almost historic low. 60 58 57 51 51 50 51 49 49 49 Of course, that expectations are low 40 42 43 A society where individuals are is not surprising given the financial 30 encouraged to look after themselves challenges facing public services, and as 20 noted above, there is still support for the argument that public spending needs to 10 be taken under control. Reflecting on the 0 1988 1989 2006 2009 2012 recent past, people also continue to feel

(65%) that the government and public Base: c. 1,000 British adults – repercentaged to exclude don’t knows Source: Ipsos MORI

6 Ipsos MORI Understanding Society Evolving public services, evolving public opinion

more are worried (68%) than in 2010 (50%) that government and public services will do too little to help people in the years ahead

Citizen-focus is rightly an – that values are deeply set and change cope regularly, if not most of the time enduring theme of public very gradually – public opinion on some with fiscal constraint and high citizen service reform of the key issues remains divided. Which demand. Encouragingly, many examples Ultimately, therefore, it seems that way the balance of opinion of the current of public service innovation that deliver although values are slow to change, reform process eventually falls may well high quality services at very low cost are they are trending in the same direction depend on how well it is executed. Given based on putting the needs of the citizen over time, which may be one reason why the difficult economic circumstances at the centre – one of the most enduring we continue to see common threads in in which implementation must occur, themes of public service reform in the public service reform over the years. the government could do worse than UK, and rightly so. ■ Perhaps for the same reason, however take inspiration from countries that

1 HM Government (2012) Open Public Services joust-over-public-service-reform.html#>. 15 Ipsos MORI (2010) Citizen engagement: testing 2012: 3. policy ideas for public service reform (London: 2020 8 Base: Public sector and voluntary organisation Public Services Trust): 19. 2 Paul Flatters and Michael Willmott, Drivers for chief executives and other board-level directors Change: Citizen Demand in 2020 (London: 2020 (100), 12th - 30th July 2010. 16 Base: British adults 18+ (1,051), 11-17 Public Services Trust, 2009); Rick Muir, The Long December 2008. View: Public Services and Public Spending in 2030 9 Ipsos MORI and Zurich Municipal (2010) Tough (London: Institute for Public Policy Research: 2012). Choices: Different perspectives on long-term risks 17 Base: British adults aged 15+ (1,001), 19 – 25 facing the public sector and wider civil society August 2011. 3 Paul Flatters and Michael Willmott, Drivers for (Dublin: Zurich Municipal): 13. Base: Public Sector Change: Citizen Demand in 2020 (London: 2020 Leaders (338), 27 June – 22 July 2011. 18 Ipsos MORI, What do people want, need and Public Services Trust, 2009): 12. expect from public services? (London: 2020 Public 10 Senior local authority officers in England (150), Services Trust, 2010): 34-36 4 Rick Muir, The Long View: Public Services and 29 November and 17 December 2010. Public Spending in 2030 (London: Institute for Public 19 Accenture Institute for Public Service Value Policy Research: 2012): 9. 11 Head teachers of schools that have converted (2009) Accenture Global Cities Forum: Exploring to Academy status since August 2010 (151), 25 People’s Perspectives on the Role of Government. 5 Henry Kippin and Holly Snaith, Widening the January – 24 February 2012. Lens: what can the UK learn from public service 20 Ipsos MORI/2020 Public Services Trust (2010), reform in the developing world? (London: 2020 12 Senior public sector managers in the local What do people want, need and expect from public Public Services Trust, 2012). government and health sectors (202), 27 June – 22 services? (London: 2020 Public Services Trust): 12, July 2011. 20. 6 Shalabh Kumar Singh, Ashish Gambhir, Alexis Sotiropoulos and Stephen Duckworth, Frugal 13 For more on this, please see Peter Cornick and 21 Base: British adults 18+ (1,007), 25 October – 2 Innovation (London: The Serco Institute, 2012): 5. Daniel Cameron, “A whiter shade of green? What November 2010. the Open Public Services White Paper means for 7 Sue Cameron, “Whitehall’s knights joust over services and their users,” Understanding Society 22 Base: British adults 18+ (1,016), 9-11 June public service reform,” The Telegraph, 13 June (London: Ipsos MORI, Winter 2011): 6-9. 2012. 2012, accessed online at

7 Ipsos MORI Understanding Society Evolving public services, evolving public opinion

Lord O’Donnell Delivering public services in a new world Interview by Ipsos MORI

means big corporates have lots of money worse outcome and this matters most for and are sitting on lots of cash, they do not youth unemployment. know what to do with it. We need them to invest directly. Let’s increasingly leave the IM: If you look back at the crash, it is banks out of it. In 10 years time the role amazing how few people saw it coming. of banks in corporate lending could be We are always fighting the last war but much smaller. In addition, we will have a what is the learning from that? Do we lot more direct lending from individuals need more units that are just looking to SMEs. We will need to make sure that at the unthinkable in the centre, or we regulate that properly. Now it suffers something that actually looks at the black because it is not regulated. swan events like a meteor landing?

Therefore, it means it will be a slow LO’D: The crash was entirely predictable recovery and the economy needs to with hindsight, but also entirely Ipsos MORI: You started in the civil reorient itself because the way the world unpredictable in the sense that crises, service in 1979, so you have lived through is going means we need to diversify our almost by definition, are unpredictable. a couple of crashes and recessions. exports away from the Euro area - that is Andy Haldane from the Bank of England How would you compare this one to the going to be very slow growing for a long has done some good research on this. previous ones? time. The trouble is that is our biggest When you are trying to predict the future, market. you tend to look at the past and you Lord O’Donnell: It’s very different and estimate your models on the past. You it’s a big mistake to think of this as a IM: The trouble with a lot of recessions is draw your lines forward, and the banks normal recession. At the heart of it is the that it’s a bit like being unemployed. As it were doing that. Based on the past, and financial crash - the banks got too big, goes on, the effects are cumulative, and based on their models, the kinds of things leverage was too high. As we come out they’re not immediate. that happened during the financial crisis of that, we have to end up with a world should have happened less than once in where the banking sector will be smaller LO’D: It’s amazing how for all these things the life of the universe. For example, the as a share of our GDP and the leverage we have a piece of jargon: hysteresis. stock exchange: the idea that it moved will be much, much lower and they’ll If you lose stuff you’ve lost it forever. by more than 1% during a day, it hardly have a lot more capital. Part of the way Continuous motion, discontinuous action. ever did. Then you take the Spain bailout, for them to do that is by contracting their Therefore, you are stuck. So people it was up 5% in the morning and it was in balance sheets, which means, without who become unemployed, by virtue of negative in the afternoon. Therefore, what the jargon, less lending. being unemployed they become less we had was a flock of black swans. employable. They are disengaged from A part of the solution in my view is a the labour market forever. So you do The bizarre thing for financial crises in technical term, disintermediation. Which not return to where you were. You get a the future is that the models will work

8 Ipsos MORI Understanding Society Evolving public services, evolving public opinion

quite well because they are now based LO’D: If they don’t want to cede that are an economist study psychology. If on a very turbulent past. Where I would power fine, but the consequence of you are a sociologist understand some say you should really worry is where that is they are accountable. If you want economics, get that broader base. the world has been flat, very constant, control and power then you take the rap. Understand some science; science is not much has ever changed so you are going to be very important. Get the new not used to any big change. Then if IM: And if you were a bright young thing technology because the young get this something unusual comes along no one entering the Civil Service in 2012 knowing automatically. What I would say to them will be ready for it because all of their risk what you know what would your advice is, be challenging. For the young it is an plans will be based on preparing for the be? exciting time. They have the comparative risks of the past. So really what you need advantage and skills for the next is someone to go back and look at all of LO’D: Enjoy. It is a fabulous life. There generation of public service delivery those things that have been very boring are massive opportunities. If you look because they know about this, you know, and very safe and imagine what kind of at public service and you consider ‘can we do stuff through apps?’ There is assumptions would lead that to break the kinds of problems that are coming absolutely no reason why we cannot do down. up like obesity, and ageing, these more of these things. interesting areas are issues where there IM: On the Civil Service, the one time you is a public policy dimension. I hope new IM: There has been talk about outsourcing appear to have got really cross recently civil servants will be more into thinking policy. Was that just a threat to civil is over the spat with Chair of the Public about behaviour change, thinking about service management? Accounts Committee, Margaret Hodge well being, getting some strategic over how civil servants should be held outcomes and not just about taking a LO’D: The civil service always needs to account1. What are the underlying bill through parliament. I really hope that to understand that it is in a competitive principles and the issues there? In some the fast streamers coming in today will world in every single respect. I was in ways, you could paint it as avoiding be thinking that this is a world of ‘how do favour of the changes to the pensions responsibility. we manage the problems facing society and all the rest of it because if you try now whilst embracing localism’. to keep the civil service in a state where LO’D: Exactly. That is what I do not it’s really expensive to do something want it to be. I am a massive believer in IM: And are we really? We talk about it by using civil servants rather than accountability. Where there is some need but localism is only fine as long as it’s the outsourcing then sooner or later ministers for change is where there is much grey same for everyone. Ipsos MORI has done are going to go for the cheaper option. area. I want a situation where if you say lots of work on that issue. Therefore, we need to be competitive and to civil servants right, you are setting up use our comparative advantage, which is this project or running this new agency LO’D: I agree. We are schizophrenic as trust. I am not sure that the private sector or delivering this specific thing, and if it a nation. I hear it in the Lords all the time. collecting my taxes is really what I want. goes wrong, you are accountable. If you People are standing up and complaining want the civil servants to be accountable that in their area it is not as good as it IM: You have recently talked about for this, do so by all means, but give them is somewhere else and this is because “honouring the evidence”2 but government the power and the responsibility that it’s been devolved to local authorities is cutting back quite considerably on goes with accountability. It should be a who are responding presumably to local research and statisticians and the worry bit like a classic contract or outsourcing - needs. What is that about? is that there is a loss of capacity. have an agreement with that civil servant that they are going to be accountable for IM: So in terms of civil servants building LO’D: That does worry me. I am trying the results. their careers where should they go? What to help. I am going to do some work for should they learn? What should they do? universities and try to engage the staff IM: But will politicians then see this on relevant research. There is a lot of as ceding too much power to the civil LO’D: The first thing to learn is that the ‘so what’ research. Economists are very servants? new world is multi-disciplinary. So if you guilty of this. We need to persuade the

9 Ipsos MORI Understanding Society Evolving public services, evolving public opinion

academic profession to be thinking LO’D: I have to be optimistic because site are not just those who want to put about the things that really matter. We it is our job to make them better, and in an idea but they are the people who could use them to fill the gap. because the opportunities for improving are interested in this subject. So they got public services just keep expanding. much better take up of the right kind of IM: We were fascinated to see that the I mean, there is the first wave of digital people and it cost them no money. They government has set up an implementation implementation. The fact that you can get were forced to innovate. unit having scrapped the delivery unit. your car taxed online is a great success story. Moreover, online filing for tax self- In the old days, we would have just LO’D: These things go in cycles don’t assessment, I remember trying to do employed another person and done they? I remember working with, and being it for the first time, which was a bit of a more marketing, but we cannot do that completely derided by the media, for nightmare. Last time I did it, it took 15 now. Often that creates a different way the hotline. Do you remember? Citizens minutes. of thinking. For example, why not employ charter, all of that. It was the first attempt part time workers from 5pm-10pm. Every to say public services should be looked But there’s a massive opportunity for the part time worker we have is massively at from the point of view of the user second wave of digital public services. productive because they do actually not the provider. The criticism was, are Wouldn’t it be brilliant if when you go to work the extra mile. That is where we’re people going to bother to phone in? Well the car tax people they were able to look gaining relative to the private sector in actually, this was a feedback mechanism. at what you put in and say ‘well actually, that we’ve got a lot more women and It was well ahead of its time. by the way, you’ve got a 10 year old car, we’ve got more part timers and they its fuel efficiency must be pretty bad and are very productive. So that is one area John Major was, I think, one of the first given the car you’ve got you’re paying a where the private sector needs to learn prime ministers who actually thought full whack of tax. If you were to move to from the public sector. about the users of public services. He a low CO2 car you’d save this amount on had used public services and actually fuel. You’d reduce your emissions and IM: Do we need to re-examine or have thought about the people who used your car tax and by the way there’s a car more of a debate about what the state them, which was why he naturally had scrappage scheme’ – at least there was! does and does not do? Alternatively, good ideas in this area, and appealed to do we just try to carry on and do it in a the public. IM: Clearly, with the economic situation pragmatic way as always happens in and public spending cuts it’s a difficult Britain? IM: And he did to start with up until Black time for public services. Do you look Wednesday; his ratings were good. forward with confidence to the next few LO’D: There is a good case for re- years? examining what the state should do. If LO’D: John Major will always tell you that you ask people they will say they would he got more votes in ‘92 than Tony Blair LO’D: You have to get on with it. I would like a smaller state, they would like to pay did in ‘97. say, regard it as an opportunity. One of less tax, and by the way could you sort the things that happens with austerity is it out this, this and this. It’s a bit like obesity But coming back to your point about creates many opportunities and can make where the public said it’s the fault of food implementation, I do think we kind of went jobs more interesting. The example I have and drink manufacturers or their parents from no targets at all and the thought that given is the patents people, whose job it but themselves were quite far down the you just create the conditions and then is to try to encourage small businesses to list. Who should solve the problem? ‘The it works, but obviously at some point you protect their intellectual property if they state’ was the clear answer given by the are going to have to think about whether have invented something. They had their public. the policy is working or not. A focus on marketing budget abolished and had outcomes matters. to say ‘well, there is no money so what IM: The same with climate change. can we do free?’ Therefore, they got a IM: Are you optimistic about the future for link from the Dragons Den website. The LO’D: Exactly. When it comes to state the public services? people who go on to the Dragons Den action our biggest problem is once

10 Ipsos MORI Understanding Society Evolving public services, evolving public opinion

you say right there’s something to do a cardinal sin. So what are your thoughts Biography here, there is one set of people, namely on good policymaking, is it just too Lord (Gus) O’Donnell GCB was Cabinet politicians, whose default mode is ‘that competitive and complex with too many Secretary and Head of the Home Civil Service means we must legislate or regulate,’ and pressures? under three consecutive prime ministers, from that is at the bottom of my list actually. 2005 to 2011. I would say let us think about what it is LO’D: The PM put his finger on it and Prior to that, he was Permanent Secretary people really want and need. How do we got it right when he started this business to HM Treasury (July 2002 – July 2005). He sort those things out? Then that could about saying it is not about GDP, it is about worked as Managing Director, Macroeconomic be about behaviour change. That could well being. Every single public policy Policy and International Finance from 1999 be about just providing information. One should enhance well being in some way, to 2002 and as Director of Macroeconomic of the most effective social changes and then you have the right framework. Policy and Prospects from 1998 to 1999. He also served as the UK’s Executive Director to brought about by any government over Along the way, you have to make some the IMF and World Bank from 1997-98 and as the last 50 years has been the reduction compromises but if you start from not Head of the Government Economics Service, in lung cancer rates by taxing cigarettes having some strategic clarity about what the UK’s largest employer of professional - fantastic compared to France - the you are really trying to achieve then I economists, from 1998 to 2003. rates just went in completely opposite think, how do you evaluate it? You do not Lord O’Donnell studied economics at the directions. have a success measure. How do you University of Warwick and Nuffield College know whether you need to move it, make Oxford. He joined the Treasury as an IM: Interesting. You found the right lever. in-course corrections? economist in 1979, having spent four years You found the right nudge. as an economics lecturer at the University of Glasgow. Subsequent posts in Government So strategic clarity is the most important included Press Secretary to the Chancellor of It’s more of a shove than a thing. If you just said to every minister: LO’D: the Exchequer (1989-90) and Press Secretary nudge but you shouldn’t rule out the so, what are you really trying to achieve? to the Prime Minister (1990-94). old fashioned shoves. There are some However, you need to know how to He was raised to the peerage as Baron things you might want to regulate away measure success. For example, we want O’Donnell, of Clapham in the London Borough completely because they have put you better educational outcomes. How do of Wandsworth in 2012 and sits on the into the worst possible world. So you you define what is a better educational crossbenches. do regulate really addictive drugs for outcome? How are we going to measure His interests include football, cricket, golf and example. You just need that menu of it? This way everybody knows where tennis. He is married with one daughter. options. Nevertheless, for me the first step you’re going. That is the crucial part. is looking at what people really want and That has to be done by politicians. need, and exploring with them their wants 1 http://www.guardian.co.uk/public-leaders- and needs and possibly talking to them IM: But why doesn’t that happen? network/2012/mar/09/margaret-hodge-gus-odonnell- row about changing their wants and needs. 2 http://blogs.lse.ac.uk/ However, that is quite controversial. LO’D: Because it forces you to confront politicsandpolicy/2012/05/01/retrospective-sir-gus- many of those tradeoffs. It forces you to odonnell/ IM: What would you say you have learnt say actually I am prioritising this and so I in your long career thinking about this? am deprioritising that.

LO’D: I have learnt that legislation is a IM: But of course by telling the public that blunt, clunky tool and it is passed usually you’re deprioritising anything... with an eye on the last crisis and turns out to be very inappropriate for the next LO’D: Exactly. And the public are very crisis. capable of wanting their cake and eating it. ■ IM: Since leaving the Civil Service, you have said that a lack of strategic clarity is

11 Ipsos MORI Understanding Society Evolving public services, evolving public opinion

The future of Government communication

Jenny Grey

In communications terms, the phrase of Health’s Change4Life campaign, far There are a number of dimensions to ‘public service reform’ is always less outstripping Government investment of our reforms that are relevant beyond than the sum of its parts. While many £11million. the communication community. We policy makers focus on structural are having to think about how to share changes that will revolutionise Technology and the rise of social increasingly scarce specialist expertise. delivery of public services, citizens media continue to transform the way Our solution has included clustering and public service staff just want to communicators work. We need to be ever departments into thematic hubs based know what the difference will be for more fleet of foot to deal effectively not around key issues such a growth, health their own schools, hospitals and other just with the 24/7 broadcast news agenda, and personal safety. Their initial task services. And they are cynical about but also a story trending exponentially has been to work together to identify the whether the reality of their experience on Twitter. Citizens increasingly communications priorities for the coming will match the ambition of the rhetoric. expect greater transparency and more year and to plan the resource available to meaningful engagement, and government achieve them. Government communicators don’t just has started to respond with a massive promote and explain reform across programme of publishing government Effective planning across government the civil service and data and initiatives communications, rather than just within Government wider public sector, such as HMRC’s app departments, is another feature. It we’re also leading communicators don’t just which lets you see unlocks a number of possibilities, not significant changes promote and explain reform to the nearest penny least of which is visibility of the cumulative ourselves. And since across the civil service and where your tax is effect of our communications from the the drivers for change wider public sector, we’re spent. perspective of our audiences. are the same, the also leading significant reform of government changes ourselves. Needless to say, The benefits of this approach are best communications is fiscal constraints illustrated with a public health example. perhaps a useful microcosm through had an immediate and extreme effect. Previously, separate budgets were which to explore the challenges of civil The Central Office of Information was allocated to social marketing activities service reform more generally. closed because its business model as a to support various policy goals - for trading fund - predicated on high levels example, reducing the number of people Political change is obviously an important of advertising and marketing - became smoking, contracting sexually transmitted driver. This is after all a government that unsustainable. Marketing and advertising diseases, taking drugs. Young people fundamentally believes that the state is controls led to government media buying were bombarded with a number of state- often not the best placed institution to solve alone reducing from £238 million in sponsored messages such as don’t social problems. For communications, 2009/10 to £44 million in the following smoke; don’t take illegal drugs; don’t that means that the trend of working year. Meanwhile, our latest survey drink too much; wear a condom. The with business and charity campaign showed that head count in Whitehall Department of Health has turned that partners has stepped up. Partners such communications departments has on its head and is now running a single as supermarkets and media brands now dropped by nearly 40 per cent. campaign aimed at engineering online contribute £27million to the Department conversations between young people

12 Ipsos MORI Understanding Society Evolving public services, evolving public opinion

and trusted influencers about risky Government Digital Service. Chaired of government, working closely with Ministers behaviours. by the Minister for the Cabinet Office, and their advisers to shape government communications. Notably she oversaw the Francis Maude MP, its aim is to drive civil service media and communications effort The example from health ticks a number collective responsibility for government over the coalition talks and ensured a smooth of boxes that ought to form the building communications, helping to remove any transition from the last administration to the current one. blocks of how we work - based on barriers to effectiveness and efficiency. user needs and behavioural insight, She started her career as a copywriter before working with trusted brands and third If I were to single out one contribution moving into PR, where she worked for a variety of corporate clients including McDonald’s, parties, digital, and more efficient as a that communicators ought to make to the Toyota, Allied Domecq and BT, designing and result. Imagine though what it takes to reform and delivery of public services, executing a series of successful campaigns. replicate that audience approach across it is that our role requires us to see the She then moved across to the public and departmental boundaries. Few of our world through the eyes of our audiences, charitable sector where she has held a number systems of financial control, performance whether as citizens, taxpayers or users of communications director roles, including management and individual incentives, of public services. It may not be a in the NHS, Cancer Research UK and the Audit Commission. She has a track record of not to mention political accountability, are revolutionary idea, but it’s the right place success, having been responsible for many currently sufficiently aligned. to start. ■ industry award-winning campaigns, including the ‘Cleanyourhands’ campaign to combat Part of our solution is the creation hospital-acquired infections. of a Communication Delivery Board, Biography Jenny has a First Class degree in English comprising Ministers, Directors of Jenny Grey joined the Civil Service in 2008 and literature from Durham University and an MSc in Social Psychology, specialising in the effects Communication and colleagues from is currently Executive Director of Government Communication for Number 10 and the Cabinet of mass media on attitude and behaviour, from the Behavioural Insight Team and the Office. In this role she has been at the heart the LSE.

Communications and 2011 and thought to be the first guide policy, signals the default is no longer to Behaviour Change of its kind. He also helped to form a new make new legislation; to pull economic Evaluation and Research at evaluation team at COI and to deliver levers; or to run a big campaign. It Ipsos MORI evaluation training to communicators is to make things easier for people; across government. to change the ‘choice architecture’ The Ipsos MORI Social Research Institute around their behaviour; to nudge them has bolstered its communications Matthew Taylor said: “Government subconsciously towards acting in ways evaluation team with the appointment of communication has always aimed to that will benefit them and society. a new lead research director, Matthew inform, persuade or influence behaviour. Taylor. In 1948, government backed advertising Evaluation is essential to knowing what urged us to join the Navy, to use a tissue works in this new approach and in Matthew joined Ipsos MORI in early 2012 when we sneeze and to prepare for the demonstrating accountability. It must from the Central Office of Information London Olympics. In 2012, some 64 be planned alongside a campaign; (COI), where he worked on strategy, years on, it aims to do exactly the same a framework must be developed that planning and evaluation in policy areas thing. But the way it does so is changing identifies what needs to be measured; across central and local government, dramatically to reflect a changing world and the role for paid research must be mostly on campaigns aimed to change and new political priorities. identified alongside other evidence. attitudes and behaviours. We look forward to working with policy- The arrival of the Cabinet Office makers and communicators to make Matthew was co-author of ‘Payback Behavioural Insights Team, set up to it happen – and to understand what and Return on Marketing Investment in take the findings from behavioural works best.” the public sector’ published by COI in economics and to apply them to public

13 Ipsos MORI Understanding Society Evolving public services, evolving public opinion The primacy of privacy

Harvey Lewis, Deloitte Anna Beckett, Ipsos MORI

Facebook alone now has over 900 million active users1 worldwide, and also many US consumers are using the social networking site to interact with brands.2

14 Ipsos MORI Understanding Society Evolving public services, evolving public opinion

Data is now part of the fabric of our and discounts that are more likely to be police.uk street-level crime map and society. We are continuing to generate taken up by customers. Often, the data the publishing of all local government huge quantities of data in almost every is used to fine-tune the enterprise itself, contracts, tenders and expenditure over aspect of our lives, whether through to refine internal processes or to pinpoint £500. our interactions with organisations operational issues. With the right tools, or with each other. The combination data has become a powerful and flexible More recently, the government of social networking and mobile resource for all organisations seeking to has reaffirmed its commitment to communications, in particular, is improve the effectiveness and efficiency transparency and data sharing. 2012 allowing people to connect in new and of their operational, marketing, sales and has so far seen the release of the Cabinet exciting ways, but is also creating a supply chain activities. Office’s5 Open Public Services White flood of data. For instance, Facebook Paper and the establishment of the Open alone now has over 900 million This is not just an opportunity for large Data Institute in east London6. active users1 worldwide, and also businesses such as Amazon and many US consumers are using the Google. The coalition government also Data sharing between government social networking site to interact with has transparency and use of data in the agencies has also taken a step forward, brands.2 public sector at the centre of its policies although concerns about data security – and this emphasis continues, as the mean that advances here are more In the past, organisations were limited interview between Ipsos MORI and contentious. to using relatively small quantities of Tim Kelsey, in this edition, makes clear. structured, transactional data about In late May 2010 this agenda was laid Legislation permitting data sharing their customers or citizens. Nowadays, out in a letter from the Prime Minister to across the public sector has featured through the advent of powerful new data government departments, in a number of collection and processing technologies, which stated that: recently passed bills. organisations can also analyse vast The coalition For example, the quantities of unstructured data. This “Greater transparency government also Welfare Reform Act can include documents, blog or social across Government is at has transparency allows the sharing network posts, music or film playlists, the heart of our shared of data between and use of data in call-centre transcripts, photographs commitment to enable the local authorities and and images, video and a myriad of public to hold politicians the public sector Jobcentres to deal with data in other complex forms. Seventy- and public bodies to at the centre of crime and antisocial five per cent of all data, structured or account; to reduce the its policies – and behaviour7. Plans to unstructured, is created by individuals. deficit and deliver better this emphasis allow DWP to use Eighty per cent either touches or is value for money in public continues. credit ratings agencies managed by organisations3. spending; and to realise to verify transactions significant economic – introducing the idea Organisations are using this data in a benefits by enabling businesses and non- of private-public data sharing – are also variety of ways. In some cases, data is profit organisations to build innovative mooted for later in the year. used to improve the quality of customer applications and websites using public experience by helping to link up formerly data”4 However, as more organisations seize disparate parts of an organisation that upon the power of data and increase customers interact with. In others, the This letter detailed a number of open their level of processing prowess, some data is used to derive recommendations data initiatives which have since come of their customers and citizens may not for future purchases or to target offers to fruition. The most notable include the understand how this is being done nor

15 Ipsos MORI Understanding Society Evolving public services, evolving public opinion

appreciate what it means for their privacy. The primacy of privacy Recent measures proposed by the If you found out a company you are a customer with (for example your bank or your main supermarket) Government in the Data Communications was doing any of the following, which if any, would make you seriously consider not using this company Bill, for example, involve the collection again? Failing to keep safe or losing my personal data of new types of data to protect national 70 Selling anonymous data about customers to security. Announced in this year’s Queen’s 56 other companies Speech, the Bill generated concern Exploiting overseas workers 53 among some commentators and privacy groups8, since official bodies could Charging higher prices than competitors 51 potentially examine the internet browsing Damaging the environment 49 history and basic communication trail Paying senior executives a large bonus/salary 40 of individuals suspected of serious offences. Base: 1,036 British adults 15+, 30 March – 5 April 2012 Source: Deloitte/Ipsos MORI

Since that research, though, there have 2. Over half (58%) lack confidence Two in three been well-reported stories of data loss, in companies and public bodies to don’t feel informed and the impact of data-sharing has keep their data secure; about what moved up the agenda. So, what’s the information public current picture? 3. People are, on average, over eight services hold times more likely to oppose a about them; Deloitte and Ipsos MORI carried out range of examples of data use by 74 per cent research to understand what citizens, organisations as they are to favour don’t know how to as customers of business and users of them; find out; and, public services, feel about the collection, use, and sharing of data10. The results 4. Of those who said they opposed 53 per cent point to a widening gap emerging their data being used, 51 per cent don’t know what between what organisations want to suggested that this was because their rights are. do with data, and what their customers they did not know what would think is appropriate use. The growing happen to the data, and 42 per cent In fact, previous research9 confirms that importance of data privacy is clear. As said that their data was none of the there is a lot of confusion over what an example, respondents said they company’s business; public services do with personal data. would seriously consider never using a Two in three don’t feel informed about company again if it failed to keep their 5. The majority of people, 54 per cent, what information public services hold personal data secure, or if they sold their said they would like stronger laws about them; 74 per cent don’t know how data, even in an anonymised format, to and safeguards to protect their data; to find out; and, 53 per cent don’t know other companies. what their rights are. In that context, 6. There is no clear sign that public it’s not surprising that 60 per cent are Other highlights from the research sector bodies are more trusted than concerned about public services sharing include: the private sector on this – 30% are information about them – primarily more in favour of data being shared because they feel they will lose control 1. Although 82 per cent of people said with public rather than private sector over it, and won’t know what is being that they were aware that companies bodies, but 32% are opposed; done with it. and public sector bodies collect data about them and their activities, only 7. Similarly, people are split on public In the past, members of the public often 45% feel fully informed, and the level sector bodies sharing more data to haven’t been consistent in their views. of awareness reduces significantly improve the services they provide – Some see the pragmatic benefits of among younger people and with 32% think they should, but 39% are data-sharing, whereas others do not. declining social grade; against.

16 Ipsos MORI Understanding Society Evolving public services, evolving public opinion

Views on data sharing He has authored numerous reports, white papers and articles for clients in both the public To what extent do you agree or disagree with the following statements about how companies or public sector bodies use or share information about people? and private sectors, and for the media. He is a frequent commentator, contributing to the % Strongly disagree % Disagree % Agree% Strongly agree Times, the Guardian, Computing, Computer Organisations should collect less Weekly, Financial Times and The Economist. 5 7 36 27 information about me

Organisations should only share information about me Anna Beckett is a Research Director at Ipsos 8 10 37 25 that has been anonymised MORI and Head of the Central Government

Organisations should only share information research unit. 6 12 37 24 about me for my benefit

Organisations I interact with clearly explain why they collect or share data about me 14 21 26 15 1 “Facebook tops 900 million users” by David Organisations in the public sector should share Goldman, CNNMoney, 23 April 2012 – see also more data about people to improve the services 17 21 27 5 http://money.cnn.com/2012/04/23/technology/ they provide facebook-q1/index.htm I am more in favour of data being shared with public 15 16 24 5 sector bodies than with private sector companies 2 “10 quick facts you should know about consumer behaviour on Facebook”, Chadwick Martin Bailey, 2011, poll of 1,491 consumers in the US – see also Base: 1,036 British adults 15+, 30 March – 5 April 2012 Source: Deloitte/Ipsos MORI http://blog.cmbinfo.com/10-quick-facts-you-should- know-about-consumer-behavior-on-facebook/ Deloitte’s research indicates that the and the benefits to enable them to make 3 IDC/EMC, Extracting value from chaos, June 2011 public remains wary of the exploitation informed choices. Only then will the power 4 http://www.number10.gov.uk/news/letter-to- government-departments-on-opening-up-data/ of their data by organisations. While this of the data collected by organisations be http://www.openpublicservices.cabinetoffice.gov.uk/ finding is unsurprising, their opposition maximised. ■ 5 http://www.guardian.co.uk/government-computing- does not stem only from fears about network/2012/may/23/open-data-institute-plans- security and privacy. Many simply do not published-cabinet-office Biographies understand how their data is being used 6 http://www.guardian.co.uk/politics/2012/apr/23/ government-plan-share-personal-data and what the benefits are to them as Harvey Lewis is a research director in the Insight team at Deloitte – one of the leading 7 http://www.huffingtonpost.co.uk/2012/05/09/ individuals. For organisations seeking to queens-speech-2012-snooping-plans-attacked-by- make greater use of data and analytics, professional services organisations. Based in civil-rights-groups_n_1502353.html London, he is responsible for research activities the message is clear: much more needs 8 2,098 UK adults, interviewed face-to-face in home, for Deloitte Analytics, covering all industries. 28 June - July 2003, Ipsos MORI for Department for to be done to engage with the public He has spent 20 years in the information Constitutional Affairs about their data, giving individuals the technology industry, and specialises in 9 1,036 British adults aged 15+, interviewed face-to- knowledge they need about the risks analytics, cyber security and national security. face 30 March – 5 April 2012

17 Ipsos MORI Understanding Society Evolving public services, evolving public opinion

Tim Kelsey Driving performance: to publish or not to publish

Interview by Ipsos MORI

information and openness of decision- in the same way it would in consumer making and financial information. markets such as financial services or mobile telephones or whatever. This is already understood in the UK and entrenched in our processes. We’re IM: But we’re sitting here surrounded by forced to consider transparency and economists who assume that everybody data in a slightly different context and is a rational consumer and they calculate argue, perhaps counter intuitively, that optimal choices based on all the if you release data to allow comparison information available and then reach between services you will improve their rational decisions. All the evidence says productivity and economic viability. most consumers and members of the This is not an argument which is always public don’t make automatically rational agreed with. Lots of people don’t believe decisions based on information, even if it Ipsos MORI: Over the years, the NHS making data public does anything more is available to them. has collected masses of data about than promote greater accountability. people and their perceptions. What role TK: Exactly, completely agree. In my do you see for this data? IM: Things like the Comprehensive opinion, transparency is also an argument Performance Assessment in local for a different approach to improving the Tim Kelsey: In my previous role as government, particularly its earlier productivity of public services, not just Executive Director of Transparency and iterations, shed light into dark cupboards through people voting with their feet, but Open Data at the Cabinet Office, I argued and drove performance. In fact, people because professionals get information for public service reform combining employed in the sector who said they about their service. two components: transparency and did not like them, do nevertheless agree participation. Transparency is the pre- that without them they would not have IM: The public agrees with that. They condition for participation and is about improved as fast. believe that this information should be putting data in the public domain to there for managers. Surely the surgical encourage participation from those TK: Where I probably differ is about the profession, for instance, accept that involved with the service. expectation that purely producing data publishing their success and failure rates on services means that the public are on has improved performance? The challenge has been trying to board. The evidence so far is much more confront the prevailing orthodoxy that mixed. TK: Ten years after this argument was transparency is merely a tool to promote first made, most surgeons do. But no one accountability. Previous governments What I haven’t touched upon is the idea has consistently made the case across saw transparency for public bodies of ‘choice’ which is another driver of the NHS to each of its professions to and politicians as focusing on access participation. And of course, making data say ‘if you publish this kind of data this to the democratic process, freedom of available to the public does drive choice is the economic effect it has and this

18 Ipsos MORI Understanding Society Evolving public services, evolving public opinion

is its impact on service provision’. The We have to refine our argument and all SMEs in this country by 5%, there is big priority for me at the Cabinet Office say, well what we’re talking about here real potential value in these public data was to make that case. I came up with a is about comparative measures of assets. model for this new form of transparency. outcomes. Over the last year, we’ve now landed this argument that something These untapped data resources play But first we have to get the data published, as simple as publishing outcome data to our main strength as a nation – our because without the data we can’t do can be one of our most effective policy brilliance at media, marketing and anything. The reason for spending the drivers for productive public services, the knowledge-based industries - and yet money on getting data published is not evidence for which is growing, although we haven’t fully taken advantage of it. because it promotes choice, and it’s not still in its infancy. There is still some work People have begun to realise that, and because it’s really about accountability, to be done in the different government the job here was to make the arguments although of course that is important. departments to convince everyone of for transparency on this basis and then to It is really because you are providing this. enable public services and the broader management information to your public communities to start to build the kind of services. Business is quite used to being Everyone keeps asking me why I focus digital platforms that would truly yield transparent and quite likes it, internally at on open data when the objective is not a customer focus and a participative least, because it provides information on open data but open Government. Indeed, society. which to base decisions. we could even be bolder and say the objective is a fair productive society. The I’m convinced we are within an inch of IM: Absolutely. reason why is because you can’t have releasing the core data assets in a form your digital revolution without there being that allows for digital productivity in TK: And if you don’t know what your some data first and the basic principles healthcare. We’ve already released the profits are, you tend not to make any. of driving productivity established. secondary care data, badly, but it does It’s a well understood principle in most exist, but we haven’t done the primary other sectors of our life except for public I believe this could be a fruitful source care data yet. If we can link the two services. Some public services are initially of economic value, and estimates are together then we can have online health adverse to the idea of measurement anything from £16 billion to £100 billion platforms which enable people to use tools being used in public services just from the UK data assets. their own data, just as they do with banks, because they don’t think they can be to effect transactions and make sensible measured. There is a perfectly decent IM: Is there a research paper that has decisions. case for saying that, actually, some kinds looked into that? of measures have a distorting and a It is a misunderstanding to assume counterproductive effect, like measures TK: McKinsey published a paper in May somehow this is about technology rather of process. 2011, called Big Data1 which is worth than about data. The essential thing is the looking at. It forecasts the potential quality and reliability of the underlying economic value of public data in the hands data and updating it in real time. We ... something as of enterprise being about €250 billion haven’t been able to master those two simple as publishing per annum in Europe as a whole. The aspects yet. EU subsequently did its own assessment outcome data coming up with figures of around €140 That’s why Choose and Book didn’t can be one of billion. We’ve done an extrapolation that work at first. Once you’ve achieved our most effective would imply an approximate market value real reliability of data and transparency of about £16 billion in the UK. There are you can do all this other stuff, which is policy drivers other forecasts which have suggested it really where you yield the benefit when for productive may be higher. It is a lot of money, and you really start driving transformation in public services when you think about the net effect of, terms of service delivery. for example, improving the profitability of

19 Ipsos MORI Understanding Society Evolving public services, evolving public opinion

IM: This is fine for a lot of routine health medical services and for it to actually their 311 non-emergency service2. You services, but what about the non-routine materialise. Now we surely can do better know, 50,000 New Yorkers today now stuff? People are complex and messy than BT? You stand back for a moment and complain on the 311 system3. But they and the NHS has to be able to deal with think if Kwik-Fit can do it… You wouldn’t are not really complaining angrily rather that. imagine booking an appointment at 4:30 it’s routine, it’s just informational to point pm at Kwik-Fit, turning up and the bloke out things that have been missed. TK: No, you are absolutely right and that saying ‘you might have to wait a couple is important, but that misses the point. If of hours’. IM: It’s building feedback into the system? we could take the 80% of people, who go to GP practices, not necessarily to IM: Internet access is still not universal; TK: Yes, what we’ve got to do is make see the doctor, but to get repeat, routine over half of adults in social grades DE it ubiquitous enough so when my mum prescriptions, and give them their medical over the age of 54 do not have access to goes to the GP practice, she says ‘I’ve record so they can get their prescription the internet, with the proportion that do been waiting here 20 minutes and they online just as they do with banking, we’d have access dropping off sharply after the said it would only be 15’ and that is not free up massive resources and transform age of 65. Given the prevalence of long- overly negative, it’s just a point of fact. the system. The same could be said term conditions in this population and the for booking appointments with the GP. fact that they take up 80% of the NHS’s IM: Some of the things that Tom They may be complex people, they may budget, is there a danger that too much Steinberg’s done with Fix My Street4 are not, but to transform and modernise the emphasis on new information provision along the same lines. Some councils system it is not always necessary to take using the internet disenfranchises certain have done a great job of using online that into account for some of the more parts of the population? platforms to say “you complained about straight forward transactions like repeat this” and then they post again when they prescriptions and booking a guaranteed TK: What I want is the internet generation have dealt with the problem. appointment. to naturally go onto the web, and as for those who are less inclined, I’m sure TK: Yeah, that is exactly it. you’ll still get some silver surfers. It These untapped should be as simple as booking an airline In the USA, 311 services in their current data resources play ticket online. The best model for it by a form came about when cities like Miami long chalk is e-ticketing in the airlines were suffering financial pressures. to our main strength industry where the evidence is clear and Middle class suburbs were going into a as a nation – our straightforward; data standards were the spiral of decline because, quite literally, brilliance at media, main enabler for e-ticketing. the rubbish wasn’t being picked up. It came to a head because there were so marketing and IM: Part of your model is that people many dead animals, for some strange knowledge-based will become much more demanding and reason. There were also issues with industries - and yet complain when they perceive services the reliability of contractors. They took are not up to scratch. But GPs are some a call centre number, 311, which was we haven’t fully taken of the most trusted and revered people already in existence as a non-emergency advantage of it. in Britain, so people are less willing, number, and they put it on the web. Every interestingly, to complain about GPs than complaint that came in, in real time went Obviously I’ve got to go through all this they would be about an airline or a bank. up as a flag on the street to say “there is once I get my feet under the desk. One of a dead dog here, it’s just been reported” the most common problems people have TK: I’m not sure. In the USA there have and suddenly they assess, in real time, in the NHS, if you are just being simple been some interesting innovations where all these contractors. They could say “we about it, is that 20% of the population of some municipalities, in their drive to avoid haven’t picked up that dog within two this country find it either difficult or very bankruptcy, resorted to crowd sourcing hours”, and sack all their contractors. difficult to book an appointment with for public services and innovative use of They rehired contractors based on a real

20 Ipsos MORI Understanding Society Evolving public services, evolving public opinion

The Open Government Partnership which the UK now co-chairs is moving to working with cities because cities are ahead of governments in their exploitation of new media technologies and data. time performance management system everything and there’s a whole industry TK: I don’t mean there’s no accountability, and the net result was almost overnight of apps around it. what I mean is, this only works if the Miami was cleared up. They got happier board can work together and gel. So, citizens as they were seen to be listening The Open Government Partnership5, there are plenty of challenges for me to and people could see in real time that which the UK now co-chairs, is moving get stuck into. ■ their complaint was acted upon. to working with cities because cities are ahead of governments in their exploitation Boston’s probably got the best of the of new media technologies and data. Biography online 311 services, which is called Tim Kelsey joined the NHS Commissioning Citizens Connect and I always tell the IM: What are the challenges for the NHS Board from HM Government where he was story of Goodnight Sweet Possum. It is to embrace these new ways of working? the first Executive Director of Transparency a brilliant little story of a lady who posted and Open Data. Tim is a leading advocate of a note on this community 311 service TK: The big challenge is going to be to a popular knowledge revolution in our public services and, in 2000, was co-founder of Dr in Boston saying that she’d been to her demonstrate that the aspirations that I’ve Foster, a company which pioneered publication garbage can and there was a possum in just described will yield tangible, real of patient outcomes in healthcare. it. She posted on the 311 service ‘What benefits for the people who I’m asking to shall I do with a possum in my garbage change and deliver that change. That is He is an internationally regarded expert in thinking differently about how digital and can?’ and whilst she was waiting for an challenge one. social media can transform the customer – official to tell her how to deal humanely and patient – experience in public services. In with the possum, her neighbour just The second challenge is to keep 2007, he launched NHS Choices, the national popped round, having read the post, incredible crystal focus on those limited online health information service (www.nhs.uk) slipped the can on its side, released number of things on which we can make which now reports around 14 million unique the possum and then posted something a change, because the NHS is such a users per month. brilliant like “All done, possum alive, Christmas tree of opportunity. Efforts Tim was named a Reformer of the Year by the released into wild, goodnight sweet have got to be laser-like. think tank Reform in 2012. Before Dr Foster, possum”. Tim was a national newspaper journalist The third challenge is to ensure that the and a television reporter. He worked for the Independent and the Sunday Times, as well as You get a vision of 1950s communities NHS Commission Board works. This is a Channel 4 and the BBC. being reborn through this incredibly new organisation and we need to ensure crowd sourced participative environment. that it works the way it was conceived to

In New York particularly, it has work, with its system of matrix working. 1 http://www.mckinsey.com/Insights/MGI/Research reintroduced a layer of democracy into We need to ensure that we can deliver. Technology_and_Innovation/Big_data_The_next_ frontier_for_innovation local government which hadn’t previously The board will lose the normal territorial 2 http://www.miamidade.gov/govinfo/311.asp existed. divisions and end up as a collaborative 3 http://www.nyc.gov/apps/311/ management body 4 http://www.fixmystreet.com/ We need a 311-injection in the NHS. 5 The Open Government Partnership is a new The good news is that the software and IM: It is used a lot in local government, multilateral initiative that aims to secure concrete online platforms have now been going on where portfolios of responsibility commitments from governments to promote transparency, empower citizens, fight corruption, for the better part of a decade and have overlap. It stops territorialisation but and harness new technologies to strengthen been tested across all these American then somebody’s got to be responsible governance. In the spirit of multi-stakeholder collaboration, OGP is overseen by a steering cities. There’s a huge catalogue of open somewhere? committee of governments and civil society source software which does pretty much organizations. http://www.opengovpartnership. org/ab

21 Ipsos MORI Understanding Society Evolving public services, evolving public opinion

Towards new modes of giving

Sally Panayiotou

Introduction ATM giving or Round Pound schemes Both public and private sector to donate small amounts when paying organisations are continually embracing The government’s Giving White Paper by card. new technologies in the way they interact 2011 recognises the valuable role that with their customers and the charity charities play in society and sets out We are living in an age where new sector is no exception. To offer just a the government’s agenda to make technologies move from the early adopter few examples, in recent times Charities it “easier and more compelling for stage to the mainstream in ever-reducing Aid Foundation (CAF) has introduced people to give time and money and so timescales. Our technology tracker2 text donation services for charities, a make the change they want to see.”1 In reveals that 81% of British adults are Paypal donation platform and a CAF addition to introducing new incentives now connected, over two-fifths (42%) of ‘Giving Widget’ that allows charities and and a range of motivational measures British adults have a smart phone and their supporters to embed a donation aimed at encouraging social norms 39% connect to the internet via their page onto a website, blog or Facebook around giving, the government is mobile phone.3 The Race Online 2012 page. The RSPCA has just launched their looking at ways in which easier modes manifesto aims to get millions more new mobile phone service that will allow of giving might be facilitated, such as online by the end of 2012.4 them to benefit from up to 15 percent

22 Ipsos MORI Understanding Society Evolving public services, evolving public opinion

of users’ pay-as-you go top-up costs5. Financial charity donation methods Halifax raised £25,000 for Save the Q Which, if any, of the following methods have you ever used to make a financial donation to a charity? Children with their Christmas Facebook campaign.6 These are just a few of the Collection tin 59% numerous examples of charities drawing Donation box in foyer at charitable institution 31% on technology and social media to Added a voluntary donation to a purchase made in a shop 17% promote charitable giving (and micro- Sponsored someone through an online sponsorship site 14% Online via a credit or debit card 12% volunteering), some of which would have Text message 7% been inconceivable even just a few years Contactless donation through debit or credit card 6% ago. Added a voluntary donation to a purchase made online 6% Mobile-based giving site (e.g. JustTextGiving) 5% Payroll giving 4% Coinstar machines in supermarkets 3% Towards new modes Followed a link in social network site to online sponsorship site 2% of giving Fundraising social network (e.g. Mycharitypage) 2% Round Pound 2% Digital TV 2% We still need to emphasise that traditional Fundraising search engine (e.g. Everyclick.com) 1% methods of giving remain important. Directly through a social network site (e.g. Buying a gift in second life) 1% 1% Recent Ipsos MORI data7 shows, that Followed a link/advert in a social network site to charity page ATM machine 0% the vast majority of the British public None of these 20% – 86% - have been asked to make a Base: : 974 British adults interviewed via Capibus May 2012 Source: Ipsos MORI donation by putting money in a collection tin in the past year. This is also the most preferred method for eight in ten (79%). together as ‘newer’ technologies, two in a contactless credit or debit card9 and Sponsorship is also popular, with three five British adults have ever donated via there may well be an associated over- quarters of British adults having been one of these means. In terms of profile, claim amongst those who have not fully approached to sponsor somebody in the likelihood to donate via one of the more understood what this technology is. past year and a similar proportion (77%) traditional means increases with age, preferring this method. decreases from higher social grade to People who had donated via each lower, and is more prominent among method in the past were also asked if At the same time, CAF’s 2010 Digital women. Looking at the ‘newer’ methods, they would consider donating via this Giving report8 estimates that text it is more difficult to identify significant method again, while those who had donations will potentially be worth £96m differences as the sample of users is not previously donated were asked if per year by 2014 and it is clear that new smaller, but the age profile changes with they would be willing to donate via this technologies are becoming increasingly people under the age of 55 more likely method in future. This is shown in the important in the fundraising marketplace. to have used the ‘newer’ methods than chart overleaf. The following chart outlines the current those aged 55+, although indicatively, as adoption of new giving methods (set with the more traditional methods, usage We can make two clear observations. against some more traditional methods decreases with social grade. Firstly, once used, there is generally such as the collection tin). a high willingness to use a particular An important point to emphasise is that mode for giving again in future – and the The data show that take-up of many of the such opportunities are not currently demographic patterns reflect those seen new giving technologies is currently low. widespread, which means many people amongst those who have used ‘newer’ Grouping collection tins and donation will not have been able to donate via many methods before, with people aged 35- boxes together as more ‘traditional’ of the methods. It is also worth noting 44 and higher social grades in general donation methods, 68% of people that there can be confusion over some more likely to claim they would consider have ever donated by one or other of methods - for example it is estimated that adopting these newer technologies in these. Grouping the remaining methods 3.8 million people are unsure if they have future.

23 Ipsos MORI Understanding Society Evolving public services, evolving public opinion

Future financial charity donation methods give, we might expect that over time they will embrace new technologies for Q Which of these methods, if any, would you consider using to make a financial donation to a charity or charitable organisation again / in future? giving just as they embrace them in other Have done before and would do again Have not done before but would do in future aspects of their lives. 93% Collection Tin 27% 87% Donation box in foyer at charitable institution 18% 85% Sponsoring someone through an online sponsorship site 5% 83% The power of Online via a credit or debit card 4% 81% Contactless donation through debit or credit card* 5% technology and 79% Adding a voluntary donation to a purchase made in a shop 10% 76% social media ATM Machine* 2% 73% Adding a voluntary donation to a purchase made online 4% 68% The opportunities Text message* 4% Round Pound* 5% Individuals are now able to draw on Follow a link/advert in a social network site to charity page 2% social media to promote their own Fundraising social network (e.g. Mycharitypage)* 2% charitable efforts and act as advocates Fundraising search engine (e.g.Everyclick.com) 2% Coinstar machines in supermarkets* 2% of a charity, greatly extending a charity’s Payroll Giving* 3% communications reach. This offers real Follow a link in a social network site to online sponsorship site 3% opportunities for all charities, particularly Mobile-based giving site (e.g. JustTextGiving 3% Directly through a social network site (e.g. Buying a gift in second life) 2% Base size of current users too low to smaller charities without the marketing show % who would do so again Digital TV* 2% spend of their larger counterparts in the Base: British adults interviewed via Capibus May 2012 *note low base (50-100) Source: Ipsos MORI industry.

Secondly, there is conversely, a adding a voluntary donation to a retail Social media also offers charities new low claimed willingness to use new purchase is comparatively higher (at ways of communicating and engaging technologies that have not been used 10%) amongst those who have not used with current and potential supporters, before (particularly in comparison to this method before, compared to many with the traditional one-way sharing of an more traditional giving means such as a of the other technologies - people are annual report being supplemented and collection tin or foyer donation boxes). quite used to seeing collection tins in even replaced by the two-way contact retail environments so this does not of Facebook pages and Twitter streams This is really not surprising if one require such a fundamental shift in their with constant updates. It is easier for considers that this reflects the ways behaviour. charities to reach their target audience in which people tend to adapt to new and bring them together with active and technologies per se. It is difficult for But perhaps we should not be too direct communication. It also becomes people to conceive of changing the disheartened. This data is intended as easier to collect data on supporters and way they interact with technology until a baseline and we know that there are potential supporters, which can be used their behaviour naturally evolves towards effective prompts to changing a person’s to better understand their motivations its incorporation into their lives. That behaviour. For example CAF’s research and behaviour. said, considering the high usage of into donor behaviour during the DEC ATM machines10 it is perhaps worrying 2004 tsunami appeal highlighted the There are some incredible examples that just three percent of British adults importance of the internet as a of ‘new’ technologies prompting large- would consider using an ATM to make a fundraising method, with 61% of online scale response to charitable campaigns financial donation to charity in future - it donors saying this was the first time they – just look at Claire Squire’s marathon is clearly more than a simple question of had donated online. A truly effective JustGiving page11 or the way that the the way a person adopts technology, but call to action can both change people’s Twitter community sent Hodgkin’s their mindset and expectations of making propensity to donate, and the methods sufferer, Alex Pyne’s bucket list global donations in places they did not previously that they use to do so. If people are overnight. Anthony Nolan’s press team associate with charitable giving. Perhaps exposed to new modes in a way that drew on this publicity to secure 3,000 new this explains why consideration of makes it easy and relevant for them to sign ups to its stem-cell register within 24

24 Ipsos MORI Understanding Society Evolving public services, evolving public opinion

hours12. A key element of these examples a charity, and certainly has implications met any perceived charitable obligation? is not simply the way that social media for the necessary time and resources Further, to what extent will frequent was able to share these engaging and required to administer a donation. solicitations for charitable giving through emotive stories, but technologies were a range of methods in more spheres in place to be able to harness this call A second key risk is the lower levels of an individual’s life – online, ATMs, in to action within seconds. This facilitation of control that charities have over the shops, contactless etc. result in creating of impulse-giving is a huge advantage of information disseminated about their fatigue whereby the public starts to block online and mobile giving technologies. cause, as members of the public are out the noise and the default answer able to share their personal views and becomes ‘no’? Of course charities, and in particular opinions as well as their interpretation of smaller charities, may not feel they have the charity’s stated aims. Not only does Such risks are speculation at the moment, the technical expertise or resources to this have the potential to dilute or distort but certainly worth monitoring alongside introduce new technologies. It also may their message, but there are also very the uptake of new modes of giving. What not be a strategic investment priority. public and immediate forums for people is clear is that charitable donations form a How can charities get round this? Well to make negative comments. As part vital part of the industry and new modes ,there are industry bodies, third party of their social media roll-out, charities of giving offer huge opportunities for sites and intermediary organisations need an effective management strategy charities. It is also true that if a charity that will allow charities to take advantage for dealing with negative comments on does not embrace new technologies in of new technologies in cost-effective Facebook or Twitter. the way it interacts with the public it will ways. Similarly, strategic partnerships be left behind. ■ with companies that already have the expertise are an option. That said, the What next? charity must take care not to lose the There are clear opportunities for new 1 http://www.official-documents.gov.uk/document/ opportunity for direct contact with their technology and the wider facilitation of cm80/8084/8084.pdf donors or building a relationship with new modes of giving to modify people’s 2 Source: Ipsos MORI technology tracker 952 adults aged 15+ January 2012 them and be conscious that the use of behaviour. When thinking about attracting 3 http://www.ipsos-mori.com/researchspecialisms/ external companies may deny them committed donors it is perhaps worrying ipsosmediact/customresearch/technology/ the opportunity to collect data on their for the industry that, while 58% of the techtracker.aspx donors. British public have been approached 4 http://raceonline2012.org/sites/default/files/ resources/manifesto_for_a_networked_nation_-_ to set up an ongoing direct debit in the press_release.pdf

The risks past year, just 41% prefer to give by 5 http://www.rspcamobile.co.uk/

At the same time there are inherent risks this method, with more ad hoc giving 6 http://www.savethechildren.org.uk/node/2375 14 with the growth of social media. The methods favoured . Does this forebode 7 1004 British adults interviewed via telephone volume of online information increases a shift in the charitable sector? While omnibus April 20-22 2012. competition for donors, and additional mobile technology is a great facilitator for 8 https://www.cafonline.org/pdf/Digital%20Giving.pdf care must be taken to not alienate impulse giving, it is also an anonymous 9 http://www.mintel.com/press-centre/press- releases/860/only-a-quarter-of-contactless-card- potential supporters by imposing too mode of giving, which could hinder owners-have-ever-made-a-contactless-payment aggressively on their social spaces. longer-term relationships. On the counter 10 Our most recent data indicates this is currently Members of the public already tend side there are greater opportunities for 94% in the UK to have unrealistic expectations of the building relationships with current and 11 http://www.justgiving.com/Claire-Squires2 proportion of their personal donations prospective donors via social media. 12 http://www.anthonynolan.org/Home/FAQs.aspx that must reach the end cause13 and the 13 http://www.ipsos-mori.com/researchpublications/ greater availability of information and Additionally is it possible that new publications/1373/Public-trust-and-confidence-in- charities.aspx ‘personal’ interaction with charities could modes of giving could result in a smaller 14 1004 British adults interviewed via telephone lead to growing expectations of direct absolute level of giving? For example, omnibus April 20-22 2012. Most preferred method from prompted list ranking higher than direct debit feedback and being able to specify to what extent might a person feel that (41%) on multi-code question: Collection tin (79%), exactly how their money is spent. This having donated a small amount by text or sponsor someone (77%), sponsored walk / cycle / run (60%), volunteer to help (52%). may not be desirable or even practical for Round Pound mean they feel they have

25 Ipsos MORI Understanding Society Evolving public services, evolving public opinion

Reducing the regulatory burden

Graham Bukowski

It is crunch time for regulators. They ensure their regimes deliver efficiency, In some regulatory areas, re-structuring are coming under growing scrutiny yet at the same time increase public has seen the dilution of specialism and and are increasingly being asked to protection. Evidence put forward below, expertise and a growing concern among justify their approach to regulation based on qualitative research conducted some regulators that, as a result, this and ways of working. Many have by Ipsos MORI over the past year, could lead to diminished regulatory been subject to formal review, some, illustrates some of the key issues facing oversight. Additionally, qualitative such as Postcomm and Ofcom have regulators as well as some of the drivers research with inspectors has indicated merged, others have seen changes of government plans for reform. that some are risk-averse out of fear of to their role and remit or anticipate being held accountable if they ‘miss guidance shortly. something’ and that, consequently, they The need for a review of spend far longer in organisations than is A recently published paper by the Better regulatory regimes necessary (i.e. disproportionate to risk). Regulation Delivery Office (BRDO) aims Recent qualitative research with frontline This time would, arguably, be better spent to clarify and inform policy by highlighting regulation staff indicates that maintaining targeting non-compliant organisations in three interlinked ways that regulatory current levels of public protection under order to increase consumer protection. delivery can impact on growth: by current regulatory regimes may prove reducing costs, improving confidence difficult. In particular, local budget cuts However, in other areas budget cuts and control and realising wider economic have led to down-sizing, making it harder have encouraged innovation and the benefits1. In the meantime, rapid changes for some regulators and inspectorates development of risk-based approaches in science and technology are altering to achieve their planned programme of which have the potential to improve both the tools available to regulators, and inspections. Indeed, fewer resources, efficiency. Some regulators have already the very industries they are regulating. both financial and staff, can also limit taken steps to refine their regulatory some of the additional work undertaken regimes to make delivery ‘smarter’ The Coalition Government’s Red Tape by regulators which is perceived by and better targeted. Providing a more Challenge and proposals announced inspectors to be vital in achieving and flexible toolkit, thus allowing frontline in the Queen’s Speech advocate less sustaining standards. Similar to our inspectors greater freedoms, is intended regulation2. Although it is yet to be findings for Zurich Municipal last year3, to reduce the regulatory burden on decided how far and in what area the axe while there is general recognition that compliant organisations. Yet there is will fall, media coverage suggests that savings need to be made, there is some some qualitative evidence to suggest that anything from employment law to public concern that the easiest areas to cut in even where it was appropriate only a few health are likely areas. Additionally, the the short term are not necessarily those inspectors selected a less burdensome government’s review of the regulatory that will lead to the best or most cost intervention. It is also evident that more system challenges all regulators to effective long term outcomes. action (i.e. reassurance from national

26 Ipsos MORI Understanding Society Evolving public services, evolving public opinion

regulators and inspectorates) is needed scheme has the potential to help free up what regulators do beyond ‘stop bad to shift inspectors’ mindsets from risk resources giving regulators extra time practices’. This low level of awareness averse to risk proportionate, such as the to focus on tackling the poor practices combined with media reports of some assurances given in a recent speech of non-compliant organisations and aspects of regulation as ‘health and by Secretary of State for Education, bringing them into line. safety gone mad’ may, perhaps, go some Michael Gove where he reflected that way to warm public sentiment in favour of “far more important than any allocation Our research has identified mixed views cutting regulation. of responsibility is a commitment to learn to changes in regulation. Deliberative from the past so we can all do better in workshops with the general public On the other, as indicated above, the future”4. suggest they are open to regulators workshops with the general public tell focussing on poor practise, and there us they want regulators to be seen to is widespread demand for regulators be taking more enforcement action. What could a different to ‘toughen up’ and take strong action Also, while the press is keen to highlight regulatory landscape look to pull organisations into line. But over-regulation, it is also very quick to like? equally important is to give the public identify failures, particularly those that Depending on whom you speak with, evidence that this has happened, and lead to actual harm. These conflicting views surrounding the variability of that enforcement action such as fines do expectations will make it difficult to have regulation are mixed. In general, in not lead to higher costs being passed a conversation about introducing more recent qualitative research inspected straight back to the consumer. In contrast, risk-based approaches to regulation, organisations were frustrated that some are more comfortable with taking especially in politically sensitive areas inconsistent decision-making was stifling more personal responsibility and call for such as children’s services. growth, and even compliant organisations regulators to provide consumers with complained about heavy-handedness. more information so that they can take But start a dialogue we must. Although Given the challenging economic climate action to protect themselves. Currently there is some conservatism inherent in at the time of the research, it is perhaps views of regulation are coloured by the system, changes to the world being unsurprising that we observed strong recent perceived failures, in the media, regulated mean that standing still is not views about the regulatory burden. health, and banking and financial going to be an option. It is important services. Lord Leveson’s inquiry will be to make the case for change clearly On the other hand, frontline inspectors important with regard to public trust in and persuasively. There are strong felt that variation in the delivery of self-regulation and it will be interesting arguments for moving to a more risk- inspections can make it easier to develop to see to what extent this impacts, if at based and proportionate regime, but localised solutions. They argued that all, on the general public’s trust in self- equally it will be important to debate what being responsive to conditions on regulation across other industries. is an ‘acceptable’ level of risk. Only by the ground enabled them to develop having a frank and candid conversation innovative regulatory approaches with in relation to regulatory change – beyond successful outcomes for both regulator The importance of dialogue ‘regulation is bad’ – is the public likely to and regulated. Furthermore, they There is a genuine paradox at the heart feel confident that reform is necessary believed a ‘top-down’ and ‘one-size fits of the debate about possible changes to increase public safety without it being all’ regulatory regime could potentially to regulation, and that is whether the viewed as a cost-cutting exercise. ■ limit innovation. Perhaps the answer general public is willing to accept a then is to consider alternative regulatory likely consequence of less (or more models such as self-regulation: in proportionate) regulation: a higher level 1 http://www.bis.gov.uk/brdo/resources/knowledge/ essence rewarding organisations able of risk. regulation-and-growth to demonstrate sustained compliance 2 http://www.bis.gov.uk/news/topstories/2012/may/ queens-speech-2012 with a reduced regulatory burden. As On one hand, our deliberative research 3 http://www.zurich.co.uk/newworldofrisk/ an example, the Coalition Government’s has highlighted a lack of understanding toughchoice/toughchoice.htm expansion of the Earned Recognition among the general public about 4 http://www.education.gov.uk/inthenews/speeches/ a00203926/michael-gove-speech-on-adoption

27 Ipsos MORI Understanding Society Evolving public services, evolving public opinion

Public services: a Scottish agenda?

Mark Diffley

Scotland’s future, either as an parliament although these services are parties whose democratic mandate in independent country or remaining funded via the UK Treasury through Scotland is negligible, are constraining part of the Union, is the biggest the Barnett Formula. This mechanism the policy choices made in Scotland, for constitutional issue currently facing has been in place since the 1970s but which there is an unequivocal mandate.’1 the UK. The impact of the referendum is widely criticised, on public services could be significant, by some unionists as The problem with Devolving tax-raising but what outcome is likely to give well as by nationalists, Scotland’s current powers to Holyrood could Scots the public services they want? who want to see the constitutional settlement also have a significant Scottish Government is that we cannot impact on public The referendum on Scottish responsible for raising innovate as much as we services in Scotland, independence may still be more than its own revenue by would like. Policy choices allowing any future two years away but the battle lines are now being able to set its made in Westminster, Scottish government to being drawn. The ‘Yes’ to independence own levels of different by parties whose plot a more distinctive campaign is now up and running, and taxes. Such a move, democratic mandate in policy course to that the campaign to keep Scotland in the they argue, would Scotland is negligible, taken by Westminster union was kick-started formally in June. enhance transparency are constraining governments in ways and accountability, the policy choices which it cannot under the To date much has been said and written signalling a new made in Scotland, current arrangements. about the process leading up to the relationship between the for which there is an referendum, particularly the number and Scottish Government unequivocal mandate. wording of the questions and the date of and the public. Alex Salmond, the ballot, while the big debate around Scotland’s First Minister what independence would mean for As Scotland’s First everyone in the UK is only now beginning Minister, Alex Salmond, argued in his to emerge. recent Hugo Young Lecture for The Guardian, ‘the problem with Scotland’s Near the top of that debate will be the current constitutional settlement is that impact on public services if Scotland we cannot innovate as much as goes its own way. Currently, of course, we would like. Policy spending decisions on many key public choices made in services are taken by the Holyrood Westminster, by

28 Ipsos MORI Understanding Society Evolving public services, evolving public opinion

Evidence from our surveys suggests and saying loud and clear that they want Parliament, including powers to raise that, when it comes to the future delivery something different. taxes which could fund future public of public services, there are striking service plans. Although it is not certain differences between the public in At the same time, support for constitutional that an option for greater powers while Scotland, compared to those south of change in Scotland appears strong – remaining part of the UK will appear on the border. Successive UK governments although support for full independence the ballot paper, it is going to be difficult to have promoted a greater ‘marketisation’ is showing some signs of decline. ignore the clamour for tax raising powers of public services, allowing the private to be devolved to Holyrood even in the sector an enhanced role in delivering Since the 2011 SNP election victory event of a ‘no’ vote to independence. education, healthcare and other support for independence has been universal public services. People in slowly rising with up to two in five2 Having tax-raising powers would give Scotland appear to be at odds with their (40%) agreeing that Scotland should future Scottish governments the chance neighbours in England in resisting such be an independent country, although to pursue and fund more distinctive moves, insisting that the public sector it has since slipped to 35%3. Over half policies for the future delivery of public continues to be best placed to deliver (55%) of Scottish voters are opposed to services. Those services face the same key services. independence, while a further 11% are challenges of budget constraints and undecided. Support for independence increased demand as exist in the rest As the charts below illustrate, this belief is highest amongst men, those from of the UK. However, having the ability in the primacy of public over private in more deprived areas as well as younger to pull additional fiscal levers could see the provision of key services extends people. For many who currently support public service reform take a much more not just to the more predictable aspects proposals for independence, however, distinctive Scottish hue. ■ of being more compassionate and their views are not yet completely fixed, caring, but also includes a belief among with 26% saying they may yet change

Scots that the public sector provides their minds. 1 http://www.scotland.gov.uk/News/Speeches/ better value for money and a more fmhugoyoung24012012 professional and reliable service. In But while majority backing for the 2 http://www.ipsos-mori.com/researchpublications/ researcharchive/2931/Public-Attitudes-Towards- other words, people in Scotland seem nationalist vision remains out of reach Scotlands-Constitutional-Future.aspx to be looking at the increasing for now, it is clear from all our recent 3 http://www.ipsos-mori.com/researchpublications/ involvement polling that most Scots want further researcharchive/2980/Support-for-independence- falls-back-while-First-Ministers-approval-rating-also- of the private devolution. Seven in ten (71%) support dips.aspx sector in devolving substantial new powers the rest of to the Scottish the UK

Scots don’t just think public authorities are more compassionate, they think they provide better quality for the money…. …and a more professional and reliable service too.

Q. Some charities and private companies receive funding from government to provide certain public Q. Some charities and private companies receive funding from government to provide certain public services, such as healthcare and care for the elderly. Other public services are provided by public services, such as healthcare and care for the elderly. Other public services are provided by public authorities such as the NHS or local councils. Of these three types of service provider, which one do you authorities such as the NHS or local councils. Of these three types of service provider, which one do you think would be best at: Providing the best quality of service for the money think would be best at: Providing a professional and reliable service

Scotland Britain Scotland Britain Don’t know Don’t know Don’t know Charities 7% Don’t know Charities Charities 6% Charities 26% 20% 17% 29% 19% 21%

Private 19% companies 50% 25% Public 17% Public authorities authorities 58% 30% Private Public Public 29% 27% companies Private authorities authorities Private companies companies

Base: All Scottish adults 18+, 25-29 August 2011, All British adults 18+, November 20-26 2009 Source: Ipsos MORI Base: All Scottish adults 18+, 25-29 August 2011, All British adults 18+, November 20-26 2009 Source: Ipsos MORI

29 Ipsos MORI Understanding Society Evolving public services, evolving public opinion View this edition of Understanding Society on your mobile

Use your smart phone to scan this symbol or visit www.ipsos-mori.com/ understandingsocietymobile

Information

Ipsos MORI 79-81 Borough Road London SE1 1FY t: +44 (0)20 7347 3000 f: +44 (0)20 7347 3800 www.ipsos-mori.com www.twitter.com/IpsosMORI

About Ipsos MORI’s Social Research Institute The Social Research Institute works closely with national government, local public services and the not-for-profit sector. Its 200 research staff focus on public service and policy issues. Each has expertise in a particular part of the public sector, ensuring we have a detailed understanding of specific sectors and policy challenges. This, combined with our methodological and communications expertise, ensures that our research makes a difference for decision makers and communities.

30